links for 2010-04-20

What Put Call Ratios Are Telling Us | Minyanville.com We could have a similar pause to what we saw when Greece broke in January. (tags: options technical_analysis trading_strategy) Volcano casts cloud over European economy – CNN.com "While safety remains a non-negotiable priority, it is not incompatible with our legitimate request to reconsider the present restrictions," … Read more

SEC Action Is Not Populism, It Is the Rule of Law

I have a lot of respect for fund manager Doug Kass. His latest piece, “The Ramifications of the Goldman Sachs Case,” contextualizes the current push for financial reform, and it provides a succinct indictment of the practices that helped ignite the recent financial panic. However, I disagree with Kass’s casual link between the SEC’s charges … Read more

links for 2010-04-19

China Steps up Fight Against Property Speculation – ABC News Apparently, China (unlike the U.S. and many other countries) has a working definition of a bubble and is trying to be proactive in preventing its real estate market from overheating (and imploding) [my editorial] (tags: China mortgage real_estate bubbles)

SEC Makes Up for Lost Time By Going for Maximum Impact on Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge

The news has rippled across the globe that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) finally got around to charging Goldman Sachs with fraud: “The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to … Read more

links for 2010-04-15

Greek bailout plan signals new world disorder – The Globe and Mail The world's borrowing woes are shifting from developing economies to their advanced counterparts, many of which are exiting the crisis shouldering heavy debt burdens. Tackling those burdens is a war that a host of governments will fight for years to come, with or … Read more

Can RIM’s Stock Continue to Float As the Repurchase Program Ends?

This morning, Research In Motion (RIMM) announced that it completed its repurchase program through a third-party transaction (emphasis mine): “Research In Motion Limited…announced today that it has agreed to purchase for cancellation 2.0 million of its outstanding common shares, representing approximately 0.36% of its common shares outstanding at April 5, 2010, pursuant to private agreements … Read more

links for 2010-04-14

The Future of American Jobs – Robert Reich …even if we enjoy a vigorous recovery that produces, say, 300,000 net new jobs a month, we could be looking at five to eight years before catching up to where we were before the recession began. (tags: unemployment economy recession)

links for 2010-04-13

MasterCard Set to Open An Online Shopping Mall – NYTimes.com Through a new partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, MasterCard is set to introduce a Web shopping mall on Monday that it says can pinpoint with considerable accuracy what its cardholders are likely to purchase. The site, called MasterCard Marketplace, relies … Read more

links for 2010-04-12

Greece Wins EU45 Billion Aid Pledge to Blunt Crisis (Update3) – Bloomberg.com European governments offered debt- burdened Greece a rescue package worth as much as 45 billion euros ($61 billion) at below-market interest rates as they try to end its fiscal crisis and restore confidence in the euro. (tags: Greece debt euro IMF)